Liu Xiaoguang

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Liu Xiaoguang (刘小光)

Liu Xiaoguang (刘小光, nicknames: 天煞星, 大力神, b. 20 March 1960 in Henan, Kaifeng, China) is a professional Chinese 9-dan. He is known for his fierce fighting style and ability to rescue games which appear on the verge of disaster; and was one of the strongest Chinese players from the late 80s to the turn of the millennium. As a result, he earned the nickname Hercules (大力神) and the acrobat. He is married to Chinese professional Hua Xueming.

Liu began go at the relatively late age of 13. A local tournament victory encouraged him to further his studies in go. So he enrolled as part of the national youth training squad and advanced rapidly under the tutelage of local masters Huang Jinxian & Chen Ximing?. Through several tournaments and results he was able to make contact with other top players, such as Chen Zude, Nie Weiping, Wu Songsheng and Hua Yigang. Coupled with his recent tournament results and increasing network of go peers he was invited to participate in the Japan-China Goodwill Matches from 1977-79. Although only facing the lower ranks of Japanese professionals and amateurs, he managed to score an astonishing 11-wins and 2-draws. Unsurprisingly, in 1980 and '81 he was invited to the World Amateur Go Championship in Tokyo. However, his results were less successful than previous Chinese results, and so he began special efforts into rebuilding his game. His model was Kato Masao -- the Assassin.

Liu's game soon took to developing stable bases from which to jump off into his strong attacking style, and overall deepening his global understanding of fighting. In the 1980 (Chinese) National Go Individual he defeated a wide range of opponents, including Chen Zude and Nie Weiping, to finish with a 9-2 record and take the title. At this point he had been playing for only seven years. His new style quickly gained admirers, with some even noting the large 80% of his games that ended in killing large groups and less than 30% entering byo-yomi. Also of note became his ability to reverse lost middle games.[1]

Liu became one of the first professionals once China began their professional system. He was awarded 6-dan in 1982, became a full professional in '85 and advanced to 9-dan by '88.

Titles

Runners-Up

English Commentaries

Date Opponent Event Resource
1980-03-28 Imamura Fumiaki 2nd World Amateur Go Championship Go World Iss. 19
1980-03-29 Yasunaga Hajime 2nd World Amateur Go Championship Go World Iss. 20
1982-12-13 Ma Xiaochun 1982 Chinese National Ranking Tournament? Beauty and the Beast
1984-05-24 Ohira Shuzo 1984 Japan-China Go Exchange Go World Iss. 37
1986-08-27 Kobayashi Satoru 2nd Japan-China Super Go Go World Iss. 47
1991-04-06 O Rissei 4th Fujitsu Cup Go World Iss. 64
1993-05-22 Qian Yuping 1st Daguoshou Cup? Go World Iss. 70
1996-10-25 Ma Xiaochun 9th Mingren Final Go World Iss. 79

Notes


Liu Xiaoguang last edited by Jono64a on January 5, 2024 - 06:30
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